Ant Anstead "Born Mechanic" on TV

[PaulGover]

Anybody watch Ant's program this week, where he overhauled a 1993 XJS that had been standing for 5 years?
He had a problem bleeding the rear brakes that I can't but think shows he hadn't read the workshop manual, as he was using conventional bleeding rather than that for the Teves system - though I'm not sure, as I think the car had outboard rear disks, so perhaps someone had done a transplant from a later car.

Anyway, how on earth did he manage to sell a convertible 4.0 ltr '93 XJS for only £8? Shows the danger of selling at auction! AutoTrader lists that sort of car at more like double ...

[ptjs1]

Having finally just watched that episode, it just reinforced to me that so-called experts should contact club representatives who can advise them of even the basics of a vehicle. Right from the beginning when he described the 1993 car as a 1991 car, I was already disillusioned. If he'd contacted the JEC, we could have told him that he was bleeding the rear brakes incorrectly, and there was probably nothing wrong at all with that T-piece. It's difficult to see how the T-piece could be jammed at all. The Teves 2 system on that car HAS to be bled the correct way, as the the pressure of the brake pedal doesn't push fluid to the rear circuits. As expected, it was only when they turned on the ignition before pressing the brake pedal, that fluid came out of the rear circuits. A shame, they didn't try that at the outset.

With c170,000k miles and significant corrosion warnings over 7 years ago, the car looked somewhat tired in certain areas - front and rear bumpers and chrome alignment etc. The engine bay could have done with some major tidyup, and the underside looked like it still needed work. The car was even described at the auction as a "Cabriolet" rather than a "Convertible". I'm not surprised at all that the car made only £8k, in fact, I think it was lucky it made that much.

Call me cynical, but I'm not sure that tv entertainment and quality classic car restoration are ever very good bed-fellows.

Paul

[PaulGover]

I think the biggest take-away from the series is "Sell in the club magazine, not at auction". He lost a lot of money on cars that I'd have thought should have made a profit.

[Marineng]

It is a very good point that you make Paul.

I have found on several occaisions that a Monthly magazine becomes a rich source of 'learning material' for people working/operating in education and training.

Kind regard
Paul

[greeban]

Agree, he should have sold it privately plus he converted it to a manual - the parts alone for this are £2k+. It amazes me how most punters don't want a manual - they are rare and for me bring the car alive when you drive it.

I think was a bargain - as they say in Banger's and Cash - find another